The Independent - By Andy Gill
"CéU has the seductive, sun kissed croon of a latterday Astrud Gilberto, but couched in a musical esperanto that draws on dub reggae, samba, scratching hip-hop, jazz piano and various native Brazilian guitar modes."

The Guardian(2):
"(...)she has reworked her country's magpie tradition to create a style that is both refreshingly new but still distinctively Brazilian. Her light, easy-going vocals are matched effortlessly against anything from the slinky bass lines and jazz piano on Lenda through to the brassy, driving Rainha or the subtle and personal Veu da Noite. If she's this good live she deserves to become Brazil's next internationally acclaimed celebrity."

The Guardian
"Brazilian music has a new ambassador. This eponymous debut from the 23-year-old songstress - her name means 'Sky' - has already made waves in the US, and promises to emulate the crossover success of Bebel Gilberto."

For the complete reviews see Urban Jungle Records site.

Following the success of the album in the US, Six Degrees Records has just released CéU's first album in the UK.
We'll be posting the reviews and feedbacks here, and more on Urban Jungle Records website.

Amazon Top 10 International Albums of 2007
Position 6 - CéU

Billboard Top World Albums of 2007
Position 7 - CéU

Billboard Top World Artists of 2007
Position 4 -CéU

iTunes Editor's Choice Best World Album of 2007 - CéU

in 2007 CéU reached No 57 at Billboard 200 , No 4 at Top Independent Albums and No 1 at Top Heatseekers

In April 2007, Brazilian newcomer CéU released her self-titled Debut album in the U.S. as the first international artist on Starbucks' Hear Music Debut Series. Her album was received with critical praise from NPR's Morning Edition, The Associated Press, Reuters, and many more, hailing her as "…a fresh new face in the Brazilian music scene." Her album has sound scanned over 90,000 copies to date, making her the biggest selling Brazilian artist of 2007. CéU reached unprecedented chart numbers for a Brazilian female artist -- 1 on Billboard's Heatseekers (New Artist) Chart, 57 on the Billboard Hot 100 and 1 on Billboard's World Music charts. This is her second GRAMMY nomination.

The 50th Annual Grammy Awards are scheduled to air live from Los Angeles' Staples Center on Sunday, February 10 at 8PM ET/PT on CBS.

June 2007 - Michael Astor, Associated Press Writer
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — Maybe it's time for The Girl from Ipanema to step aside and make way for the girl from Sao Paulo. She goes by the name of CeU, which means both sky and heaven in Portuguese, though lately American listeners have been tilting toward the latter translation, lapping up her heavenly new CD at Starbucks, where her sound goes down as smooth as Brazilian coffee.

Since April, CeU's self-titled debut CD, on the Six Degrees/Starbucks entertainment label, has sold over 60,000 copies putting her at the No. 1 spot on Billboard's World Music charts and bringing her to 57 on the Billboard Hot 100.

That's the best showing for a female Brazilian artist since Astrud Gilberto hit it big with "The Girl From Ipanema," in 1963.

And while CeU's sound, with its shades of samba and Sade, seems perfect for sipping latte, her live show brings crowds to their feet. Even the stiffest audiences feel compelled to join her as she dances her barefoot samba, seemingly in a trance, with thudding rhythms inspired by the Afro-Brazilian religion Candomble.

The 27-year-old singer seemed more down to earth the next day during an interview at a beach hotel as she prepared for an upcoming five city American tour.

"The United States is becoming more open to listening to music in foreign languages. When we played Minneapolis there were hardly any Brazilians in the audience and the crowd went wild," she said.

The tour, which began June 26, was to take her to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Saratoga, Baltimore and New York, where she opens for Brazilian superstar Carlinhos Brown. She plans to return in October, visiting as many as 14 cities in the U.S. and Canada.

If the understated brunette with a mellow, throaty voice bears little resemblance to the tall and tan blonde from the famous song, that just shows how much things have changed in Brazil since Bossa Nova was the hottest sound around.

Over the years, Brazil's cultural capital has shifted from beachside Rio de Janeiro to the inland megalopolis of Sao Paulo, where Maria do CeU Whittaker Pocas grew up. The daughter of a music professor, she cut her teeth in local clubs.

Rio is still Brazil's traditional cultural center, but Sao Paulo has morphed during CeU's lifetime into a magnet for hip young hipster who soak up cross-cultural influences over the Internet and mix and match them with traditional Brazilian rhythms.

Like Brazil's cultural diversity, drawn from European immigrants and the descendants of African slaves, CeU's music is a melting pot -- combining traditional rhythms like samba with jazz, afro-funk, reggae and even the kind of "backpack" rap made famous by groups like Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul.

Ceu spent a year living in the East Village and Brooklyn in 1996, working as a maid, waitress and coat-check girl, while singing occasionally at SOBs and other clubs.

"I went to New York because I loved jazz and instead I learned to love rap music," said CeU, who wrote or co-wrote 12 of the 15 tracks on her new CD. The tracks have enough of a hip-hop edge to make her sound modern, but the CD's leadoff number, "Vinheta Quebrante," blends Brazilian percussion with DJ scratching so subtly that people who hate rap might miss it.

The next number, "Lenda," offers a dark brooding melody dancing over an acoustic guitar that syncopates against the scratches.

CeU is often compared with Bebel Gilberto, the daughter of Bossa Nova great Joao Gilberto, who updated her father's signature sound by blending it with electronica. But CeU says she's aiming for something different.

"I don't make electronic music. Everything is organic, the textures are organic," said the singer, who more often than not performs barefoot.

In fact, CeU's music sounds like what it is, Brazilian popular music, a sound people have grown to think of as uniquely Brazilian but that one doesn't find too much any more in Brazil.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

See article in Billboard magazine:

http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/genre/e3i7ccb32d20acaf6a0eae91f698ab22b8b

The 7th Annual Latin Grammy Award nominations were announced on Wednesday at a press conference attended by the international media at the Theater at Madison Square Garden. The nominations recognized established artists and creative professionals along with emerging talent.

Ceu received the nomination in category 4: Best new artist.
http://www.grammy.com/Latin/7_latin/

Other artists with nominations include Shakira, The Black Eyed Peas, Daddy Yankee, Gilberto Gil, India, Ricardo Arjona and Julieta Venegas.

CéU has been playing to sellout venues across Canada on her first Canadian Tour, including the Montréal Jazz Festival.

At one venue they had to take the seats out to get 1,000 fans in to see her!